FIREFIGHTERS prevented a church being burned to the ground on Easter Sunday after an abandoned vehicle was set alight in its grounds.

THE REMAINS of the burnt out vehicle which could have set the church on fire.

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FIREFIGHTERS prevented a church being burned to the ground on Easter Sunday after an abandoned vehicle was set alight in its grounds.

And local vicar Roy Chow says he is holding Manchester City Council responsible for the damage, after several requests for the trailer to be removed from the churchyard were ignored.

Crews from Gorton Fire Station were called to the blaze at St Barnabas' Church in Openshaw at around 1.15pm on Sunday, after a local resident reported flames rising from the trailer towards the church roof.

Mr Chow explained: "I noticed the trailer had been abandoned almost a month ago, and asked the council to remove it, as they own the land where it was dumped."

"I also reported it to police, who confirmed it was the council's responsibility to sort it out."

But, despite several attempts to get the vehicle removed, Mr Chow claims his request fell on deaf ears and that, as a result, the council should now stand the cost of the damage caused by the blaze.

The fire occurred just two days before the council issued a statement celebrating the removal of the 500th untaxed vehicle from the city's streets, as part of the 100 Days to a Clean City Campaign which reaches its climax next week.

Mr Chow added that to make matters worse, council workers attended the vehicle on 24 March - almost a week after it was first reported - but refused to take it away.

He explained: "The workmen said they had only been instructed to remove the contents of the vehicle, not the trailer itself, after police identified dangerous substances, including superglue, inside it."

The fire was started shortly after the Easter Sunday morning service and on arrival at the scene, firefighters discovered it had already spread to one corner of the felted roof.

The flames had damaged some of the roof covering and were threatening to spread inside the building, so in order to check whether the blaze had taken hold firefighters broke into the church, causing considerable damage to the main door.

Mr Chow added: "I do think that a lot of the responsibility lies with the council to be honest, in terms of the costs we have incurred."

"Although I must say I am very grateful to the person who reported the fire, as it could have been a lot worse had it been left to escalate."

A spokesman for Manchester City Council said on Wednesday "The trailer will be removed from the churchland today. We will be meeting with the vicar to discuss the responsibilities and repairs of the damage later this week."